Electric flasher.



I. WALTON.

ELECTRIC FLASHER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE I3. I91?- WITNESSES- Patented June 4, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- I nvmv James WQI ATTORNEYS .l. WALTON.

ELECTRIC FLASHER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1917.

Patented June 4, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Ill/VENTOR James WaPoon WITNESSES- Mama,

JAMES WALTON, 0F PHOENICIA, NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC FLASHER.

Application filed June 13, 1917.

To all-whom it may concern:

zen of the United States, and a resident of Phoenicia, in the county of Ulster and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Electric Flasher, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to electric signs of the flasher type, and it deals particularly with means for automatically opening the electric circuit of the sign lamps at any predetermined time.

The invention has for its general objects to improve the construction and operation of apparatus of this character so as to be reliable and eflicient in use, comparatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, and so designed that the time for cutting out the sign can be easily and quickly adjusted.

A more specific object of the invention is the provision of a novel combination of flasher and cut-out switches which are operated by an ordinary alarm-clock mechanism, whereby one of the gear wheels can be used to operate the flasher switch and the hammer of the alarm can be used for operating the cut-out switch.

With such objects in view, and others which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention comprises various novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be set forth with particularity in the following" description and claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of the invention and wherein similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views,

Figure 1 is an elevation of the clock mechanism and the flasher and cut-out switches operated thereby;

Fig. 2 is a. view taken from the left side of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view of the clock mechanism taken at the opposite side from that. of Fig. 1;

Fig. 1 1s a detail View of the alarm mechanism which is used for operating the cutout switch;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the complete flasher system with the sign in section; and 1 Fig. 6 is a modification of the means for operating the flasher switch.

Referring to the drawings, A designates Specification of Letters Iatent.

Patented June 4, 1918.

Serial No. 174,487.

the clock mechanism, B the flasher switch, C the cut-out switch and D, the sign. The mechanism A is an ordinary alarm-clock, with the exception that the gong is removed and the cut-out switch is substituted. At one side of the casing 1 of the clock is an opening 2, Fig. 8, into which extends a lever 3 which is fulcrumed at 1 on a post 5 rising from the base 6 on which the clock is mounted. The inner end 7 of this lever is disposed in the path of the teeth 8 of a gear wheel 9 of the clock mechanism.- In the present instance the lever is engaged by the second gear wheel, so that every second the flash will be made and broken. The lever 3 cmbodies a contact 10 which forms the movable element of the flasher switch B, the fixed element being a laterally extending finger 11 on the upper end of a post 12 fastened to the base 6, such post being connected in circuit by a wire 18. The outer end of the lever 3 or the movable contact 10 engages under the fixed contact'12, and the fulcrum 1 is so positioned that the, movable contact tends to gravitate away from the fixed contact, but the gear wheel 9 oscillates the lever and causes the contact 10 to move rapidly into and out of engagement with the contact 11.

The circuit cut-out switch C embodies a plate or block of insulation 14 on which is a fixed contact 15 and a movable contact 16 pivoted at 17 The movable contact 10 on the flasher switch B is connected by a wire 18 with the lever 16 which forms the movable contact of the switch C. The lower end of the lever 16 has a laterally extending lug 19 disposed adjacent the alarm hammer 20 of the clock, so that when the alarm device of the clock goes off the hammer strikes the lever 16 and separates it from the contact 15, so that the circuit of the sign D is thereby opened. The fixed contact 15 of the cut-out switch is connected by a wire 21 which leads to one terminal 22 of the sign, while the wire 23 connects with the other terminal 2 1. The wires 13 and 23 may be connected with a battery or other source of current E.

The clock mechanism can be stopped at any desired time manually by means of abrake F, Figs. 1 and 2, which is a lever fulcrumed at 25 on the base 6, with one end of the lever forming a finger-piece 26 and the other a shoe member 27 which is adapted to engage the periphery of the balance wheel 28. In Fig. 2 the brake lever is shown in released position, and by operatin the finger-piece 26 the lever can be engage with the balancing wheel 28 to stop the clock.

When the lamps 29 of the sign are lighted, the switch C is closed, and it the clock is not already running the main spring 30 is either wound or the brake lever released from the balance wheel 28. The clockworks are now set in motion and the gear wheel 8 causes the lever 3 to oscillate so that the lamp circuit will be made and broken in quick succession, whereby the sign will'flash and dim. If it is desired to automatically cut out the sign at a late hour of the night, for instance, the alarm device 31, Fig. 4:, of the clock is set in the usual manner, so that when the proper time arrives the cam-wheel 32 willrelease the finger 33, so that the catch or stop 34 will disengage the finger 35, which is mounted on the hammer shaft 36. The clock mechanism will now oscillate the hammer 20, so that the cut-out switch will be thrown open. Tn the modification shown in Fig. 6 the gear wheel 9 is. adjustable longitudinally of its shaft 37, and on the shaft may be arranged one .or more wheels 38 which can be adjusted to take the place of the wheel 9, and on the wheel 38 are teeth 39 wider than; the teeth 8 on the gear 9, so that the length of the flashes of the sign may be longer. Any number of wheels may be mounted on the shaft 37 to get any desired lengths or periods of flashes.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and method of operation will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which messes the invention appertains, and while T have described the principle of operation, to-

gether with the apparatus which T now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, T desire to have it, understood that the apparatus shown is merely illustrative and that such changesmay be made when desired as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The combination of two unitary, selfcontained devices, one device being an alarm clock including a casing having an opening, and the other device being a circuit make and break attachment comprising a base on which the clock is mounted, a support on the base, a lever fulcrumed on the support and having an extremity extending into the opening and engaging a. gear wheel of the clock whereby the latter oscillates the lever,

a contact on the lever, a Contact on the base and engageable by the contact on the lever, and a lamp circuit controlled by the contacts.

2. The combination of an ordinary alarm clock having an opening in its casing, a support on which the clock is mounted, a post risingv from the support, a lever fulcrumed on the post at a point adjacent the opening of the casing and having one extremity eX- tending into the casing to engage a gear wheel of the clockworks within the casing, a fixed contact on the support, a contact carried by the lever and movable into and out of engagement with the first-mentioned con tact, and a circuit controlled by the contacts.

JAMES WALTON. 

